Posted by Joe S. on August 12, 1999 at 21:25:48:
In Reply to: Re: 6/4 Holton mandrels posted by Skeptic on August 12, 1999 at 18:27:48:
I agree with your perspective. Vito Pascutti (sp?) owner of Leblanc (U.S.A.) is said to have been asked why he hasn't sold the tooling for that horn, if he never plans to make the tubas again, and he is quoted as saying something like (and understand, I don't know AT ALL if he actually said it!), "I'm not selling [the tooling] because it is mine, and I don't care to sell it." Realize that 1/ If they DID make those tubas again, the same quality of workmanship involved in their "Harvey Phillips Model" would apply to these "big mo's" (uhhhhhhhhh...) and 2/ Those horns, although awesome sounding, were EXTREMELY squirrel-y pitch-wise and finally 3/ The workmanship on the "good old" ORIGINAL Holtons was questionable, and their forming of branches relied FAR too much on sandpaper, in my opinion.
Finally, I agree with the price-point and market-size observation that you made: several competitors out there all chasing the same six or eight (perhaps a slight underexaggeration) customers per year.